


Tea Parties

by izumidos



Series: Who's Your Secret Valentine 2017 [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Assassin Kuroko Tetsuya, Boys In Love, Emperor Akashi Seijuurou, Falling In Love, Humor, M/M, Personal Guard GoM, Romance, WYSV2017, it's actually not gritty or cool at all, just lame romantic comedy, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 01:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9692921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izumidos/pseuds/izumidos
Summary: Akashi Seijuurou didn't know someone like Kuroko would appear in his life, but there he is, suddenly in his life. In the end, though, he finds that he doesn't mind him at all, especially when it's over tea.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sanctuses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuses/gifts).



> for yukki on tumblr! sorry that isn't a fic with cool, BAMF Kuroko or Akashi, but hey, they both have cool jobs at least.
> 
> i hope you enjoy this!
> 
> (and the whole tea motif will make sense in the end notes, i got you.)

As the emperor of the greatest dynasty in all of Japan’s history, Akashi Seijuurou is powerful. He knows this perfectly well, spending the last twenty-six years of his life and the last eight years of his rule in finely-tuned, _absolute_ control; everything that happens is planned and everything that’s planned happens.

 

It’s a simple fact of life for the Teikou Empire, but not so for the little, outside village of Seirin.

 

Scarlet-gold eyes watch as person after person are pushed down to their knees to kneel below him. His gaze travels the entire room, mentally counting all of the present people, only to frown in displeasure when he realizes there’s one less person in the room from his guard.  Who was missing didn’t click until a second later, one second too late as a loud yell had already traveled to him and his ears.

 

“Ryouta! Find Daiki now!”

 

A head of blond hair immediately moves into action, bolting out of the room. A head of green and purple only stare at the disappearing figure, but Akashi can see the tenseness in their shoulders, the slightest frown on their lips, and the hard glint in their eyes.

 

Contrary to popular belief, he cared quite a bit for his personal guard, and whoever had caused Daiki to scream and for the others to be worried, _they would die_.

 

Another scream erupts, and Akashi is debating if he’ll have to send himself to dispose of the attacker – or he’s assuming it’s an attacker, at least. But his debate proves useless in the end when familiar gold enters his vision, followed by limping navy carrying sky blue before the body is thrown carelessly onto the floor.

 

Akashi eyes Daiki’s state, narrowing at the sight of slashed skin and dripping blood, feeling a tundra creep into his body. He moves onto the pitiful lump in front of him, sneering at the audacity of the man for attacking his reputed guards; he had guts, but it meant nothing if he didn’t win in the end.

 

Before he can speak to announce the fool’s punishment, Daiki is already speaking…

 

“Sheesh, Tetsu, you didn’t have to be so harsh on me! 8 years we don’t get to see each other, and this is how I’m greeted? Pft!”

 

...and laughing.

 

Raising an eyebrow in bemusement, he switches back to the lump on the floor, eyes widening in surprise when the figure picked their upper half up, supported by weak and shaky arms, but _unblemished_.

 

“Perhaps you weren’t fighting harsh enough, Daiki, if this,” Akashi gestures his hand to the navy-haired guard and the guest, “is the result of your fight. Do you wish to be trained by me again?”

 

Fear overtakes Daiki’s navy eyes, but it’s ignored for a sudden tinkling of soft, barely there laughter, echoing everywhere and capturing everyone’s attention.

 

“He was actually much harsher on me,” blue eyes suddenly appear in Akashi’s visage, and he suddenly feels enamored for a foolish moment. “It’s just in less obvious locations. Take that however you will.”

 

“Oi, Tetsu, don’t say shit like that! We’re not fucking,” Daiki denies, red blooming beneath tanned skin. “We’ve just been friends for a long time now, graduating from the Academy at the same time. And y’know, the whole 8 years thing I said earlier.”

 

 _Oh. Now, that was an interesting fact._ Akashi muses, now viewing the tiny blunet in a new light; this frail looking man managed to graduate from such a prestigious school and not only manage to at least tie Daiki in a fight, but also be friends with him? Heterochromatic eyes gleam in amusement.

 

“Yes, hello. I am Kuroko Tetsuya,” the ‘Tetsu’ kid greeted, slowly getting up onto shaking legs and bowing. “And as you can tell, I’ve come here to tell you that you’ve captured the wrong people. I’d like for them to be released, but I can alway do so myself.”

 

Akashi doesn’t miss the sharp gleam in teal eyes and the smallest smirk on his lips; his own lips twitch slightly. Is this what being finally surprised at something truly unexpected felt?

 

“There’ll be no need for that. We’ll talk in my study.”

 

And it’s only a few moments later that Akashi and his personal guard find themselves watching a certain Kuroko Tetsuya sit in front of them. He sits primly and properly, sipping his green tea apathetically as he silently nodded along to Aomine’s words.

 

Aomine is the only one sitting on the same couch as the boy, a tanned arm lazily hanging around a pale neck while sporting a lazy grin and fond look as he spoke. It’s clear to the others that the kid is special when Aomine himself looks so cheery and docile for once, his usual smug and fiery aura suddenly gone.

 

“I wish you coulda’ seen me at the sparring competition held in Teikou last year, Tetsu. Bet you would have been impressed with how easily I beat everyone,” he brags, flexing his free arm and showing off his muscles.

 

“I actually was present for a few of the matches, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko replies. “My favorite was your last match in which you managed to somehow stab yourself instead.”

 

“Oi, that was an accident! The guy was nimble as hell! And how come that’s your favorite, bastard?!”

 

It’s useless for the taller male to argue when everyone around him starts to chuckle or make a noise in agreement with Kuroko. He shuts his mouth immediately and sulks, grumbling about ‘traitor friends’ and ‘a stupid Tetsu’.

 

Akashi is the only one besides Kuroko and Aomine that isn’t laughing, but his eyes betray his slight amusement before he clears his throat; the room turns silent almost instantaneously, and Kuroko’s eyes shift over to him.

 

“While I’m pleased that you’ve had your overdue reunion, we originally came here to talk about your Seirin friends, yes?”

 

The other males nods. “Yes, I came here because I heard that you deemed the Seirin responsible for the massacre in Seihou last month.” He doesn’t elaborate, instead choosing to take out a slim folder – _where was that hiding?_ – the white sheets of the files inside peeking out, and hands it to Akashi.

 

Heterochromatic eyes read over the information, expression remaining unchanged as he flips over page after page. His personal guard looks between their emperor and the guest, slight worry blossoming in Aomine’s chest; he knew how Akashi could be if meetings like these were found unsatisfactory, especially if it dealt with crimes or information. After all, he joked silently, it was hard to impress the emperor with information when Satsuki was on his side.

 

Except his worries turn to naught when Kuroko’s hand gently touches his arm, and he looks up to see a smug smile on Akashi’s face. It’s cold and sharp, much like the look in his eyes, and Aomine feels himself shiver, but at least Kuroko wasn’t being executed for being ‘unsatisfactory’ to the redhead.

 

(Akashi’s words, not his, Aomine says later, defending himself to Tetsu.)

 

“So, Hanamiya Makoto is the true perpetrator?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko confirms, nodding once more and placing his teacup down. “His original motive in arriving at Seihou was to recruit the village into their own budding empire due to the old family lines that lived there. Many of them were samurai families, and while quite a few still follow that path, most of them are at least experts in ancient martial arts and possess ancient moves that have been long forgotten by most societies today. Not only that, they also hold quite a varied storage of weapons that specifically improved their fighting styles, and in extension, their skill.”

 

“While that’s a fine explanation, how do I know you aren’t doing to trick us into giving you your Seirin friends back? What if you were secretly part of Hanamiya’s entourage? And even if you aren’t, you could also easily be lying to get us to incarcerate the wrong people.”

 

The tealnet didn’t seem bothered by the accusations, choosing to slightly tilt his head as he regards the emperor. “You read through the information and asked me a question regarding the information instead of ignoring it and immediately sentencing me to death. You at least accepted the information, finding it accurate. You’re also quite known for knowing when one is trying to deceive you. Besides,” Kuroko paused, “you already captured the wrong people once. What would be new?”

 

Akashi’s personal guard swallow the lump in their throat, feeling sorry for Aomine’s friend; Aomine himself just gapes at Kuroko’s  bluntness, silently mourning his good-as-dead friend. May he rest in peace and hopefully in one piece once the redhead was finished with him, he prays.

 

But Akashi simply mirrors Kuroko’s head tilt and rests his cheek on the palm of his hand, his other hand motioning for him to continue on; he ignores the surprised looks of his guards aimed at him. Maybe he’ll appoint them some more rounds of his training regime, feeling slightly irked that his personal guard found it surprising that he wasn’t always violent.

 

“And anyway,” Kuroko continues, ignoring the atmosphere, “who said anything about you having to worry about incarcerating the people? I already have him and his inner circle of nobles captured, currently being held by Kiyoshi Teppei and Hyuuga Junpei, both members of Seirin.

 

“Do you now see why I asked for Seirin’s people back? Of course, if you oblige, I’ll hand over the culprits to you. If need be, I’d be willing to offer more. If you don’t, I’ll simply let them free and call it an accident on my part,” he finished, shrugging lightly at his last sentence.

 

Akashi hums in contemplation while half-lidded eyes finally took in more of the small man in front of him. He didn’t look too impressive at first glance being so tiny and soft with only the odd blue hair and apathetic expression being noteworthy; yet the male ended up being sharp and fearless, close to being a threat after he had seen the navy-haired man’s appearance after the surprise match.

 

(He’s suddenly slightly glad for said tanned male to be friends with the tealnet. It’d be annoying if he was on completely opposite sides of Akashi.)

 

“How irritatingly fascinating,” he faux sighs before smirking. “I’ll agree to your deal of exchanging Hanamiya and his men for Seirin. However, I’ll also take your offer of adding more if need be, and I wish for you to temporarily join my personal guard.” Akashi ignores the surprised yell from said guards, eyes focusing only on Kuroko.

 

“I’ll gladly do so, Akashi-sama. I’m pleased that we have reached an agreement.”

Kuroko picks up his tea again and Akashi’s eyes flash in acceptance.

 

“Ah, there’s a steam of a tea leaf standing up. How fortunate.”

 

 

* * *

 

_“I thought the kid would die for sure, Midorimacchi, but instead he gets temporarily hired by Akashicchi instantly!”_

 

_“Stop your annoying wailing, Kise. While I admit that it’s a surprise that Akashi didn’t punish the boy, it’s obvious that the boy had caught his attention the moment he was thrown to the floor and noticed Aomine’s wounds. You, of all people, should know how hard it is to harm the idiot in a fight.”_

 

_“Aka-chin also smiled more or at least looked somewhat happy. Plus he volunteered to be the guide while Kuro-chin stays in the palace for a while.”_

 

_“No way. And Kuro-chin? You give him a nickname on the first day, but it takes me a year?!”_

 

_“Shut up, that’s not the important part. I’m annoyed that Akashi did this without consulting us first, but we’ll have no choice to accept it. And despite the outcome of Aomine’s match, Kuroko still looks extremely weak, and it’s only a matter of time until Akashi retracts his invitation for him to join the guard.”_

 

_“True, Midorimacchi! Don’t let Aominecchi hear you say that, though.”_

 

_“He does look like he can be crushed easily…”_

 

* * *

 

 

 

“So you were the one who took out the entirety of Fukuda Sougou? Even Haizaki Shougo himself?”

 

Akashi finds himself asking as Kuroko nods over his cup of tea. The both of them had been spending the early morning out in the palace gardens, having tea as they learned more about the other. And suffice to say, the redhead was learning quite a lot, and he felt himself being more and more enamored.

 

His eyes momentarily flicker towards the contents of the table: the multiple pages of information concerning Tetsuya surrounded by pencils, the momentarily forgotten shogi board still unfixed from their last match –  and the empty china that once held strong and warm tea.

 

“I admit that he wasn’t an easy fight, far from it, but even the strongest man will fall to a silent, invisible threat. How that threat plays out is a different matter. Don’t you agree, Akashi-sama?”

 

He raises an eyebrow at the question. “Is this your own way of threatening me? I’ll have you know that there’s a reason why I have a bloody reputation.”

 

The bluenet chuckles lightly. “Of course not, Akashi-sama, and like most people in this world, I know who you are. But I still stand by my previous statement.” Kuroko bows. “Forgive me.”

 

Without hesitation, Akashi pushes his chair back and dodges to the left, eyes narrowing at the sound of a broken teacup. He stands up, Kuroko following, and unsheathes a small kunai hidden in his sleeve before lunging. Kuroko evades him easily, and he catches the glint of a silver dagger coming straight for his eyes.

 

He parries the blow, a grin overtaking his features as he pushes Kuroko back. A soft breeze alerts him of another weapon, but far too late to prevent the shallow cut on his cheek. He ignores the cut, focused on evading both of the weapons. He pulls away to gain some distance from the dual-wielder, foot trampling on flowers.

 

His eyes narrow again as he watches Kuroko stay back, scrutinizing him as well. Akashi shifts into a defensive position again, barely blocking one dagger as the other lands another, deeper cut. He clicks his tongue at his own inability, but a few cuts wouldn’t mean anything as long as he won.

 

His free hand jerks forward, catching the wrist holding the unblocked weapon, and presses a finger against a pressure point. Kuroko hisses and drops the dagger, aiming a high kick towards the redhead and twists his body around. The grip loosens and he drops down into a ball to roll away before stopping and squatting in the soil.

 

He glances at the soil before secretly grabbing a handful, watching Akashi lunge towards him. He growls quietly as the kunai slashes his cheek and tosses the soil into a pair of heterochromatic eyes. Said eyes shut tightly reflexively, and Kuroko doesn’t hesitate as he disappears.

 

Akashi opens his eyes only to find no more Kuroko in front of him. His guard is up even higher, gaze flickering everywhere in the garden, but he _can’t fucking find the dude_ until the brief feeling of cold metal against his nape makes him twitch away. He ducks under Kuroko, his hand holding the kunai already moving to knock the last dagger away as he trips the bluenet.

 

Kuroko huffs as he falls and his second dagger is kicked away from him before rolling to the side as a kunai lodges itself into the soil where his head once was. He huffs again as he gets up, bolting towards the table and grabbing a pair of sharp pencils, immediately throwing two of them. They catch onto the hem of Akashi’s robe, keeping him there for a brief moment.

 

But the garment is easily shed, and Kuroko discards the idea of throwing pencils. He slips one into his own sleeve and drops the rest before grabbing the pot of lukewarm tea and chucks it. He doesn’t check to see if it hits Akashi when he can hear the sharp hiss of said male.

 

Kuroko takes a moment to breathe, already feeling his stamina start to run out at the fight’s fast pace. But he grunts almost silently, grabbing the shogi board as a shield, wincing as the tip of Akashi’s weapon almost went straight through. He shoves the board back at Akashi and takes the brief glance Akashi aimed at the board to disappear again.

 

His eyes flicker towards his kicked weapon and dashes towards it only for something to grip the hem of his pants, and he feels himself collide with the soil. Kuroko kicks wildly before slipping the pencil out and jabbing it forward, stopping just before Akashi’s golden eye right as a kunai presses against his throat.

 

Blue eyes look at a pair of red-gold ones hovering above his body, Akashi sitting on his waist to keep him still.

 

“How lewd, Akashi-sama, we’ve only known each other for a week.”

 

“How irritatingly fascinating,” Akashi simply repeats.

 

They get up from their positions and start to dust themselves off. Despite the minimal amount of cuts and bruising, Akashi couldn’t help but grin again at their brief fight, at the momentary feeling of being alive.

 

He watches Kuroko from the side of his eyes as he helped restore some sort of order in the unfortunately ruined garden, picking up scattered shogi pieces and fragments of shattered china. The two of them nearly silent with the only sounds being their harsher than normal breathing and the shifting fabric of their clothes as they moved all over the garden to fix it.

 

Akashi is the one to find Kuroko’s weapons in the end once the cleaning is done, for the most part, hidden in a once beautiful but now trampled section of red roses. He chuckles as he hands the two daggers to the bluenet while in the roses, the smaller male flushing before bowing in gratitude.

 

“Once again, forgive me for the sudden brawl I had initiated, Akashi-sama,” Kuroko apologized, but a small smile had overtaken his lips as he stared fondly at his daggers. “However, that was one of best legitimate fights I’ve had. As someone who’s used to stealthy and subtle assassinations, I don’t get to fight directly much.”

 

“It was no problem at all considering it was also one of the better matches I’ve had in my life. However, I could see what you mean by an invisible threat from what I’ve witnessed and what Daiki had briefed me a few days ago. Though, I am surprised that you chose to stop using your misdirection during your stay so far.”

 

“Yes, I usually employ misdirection everywhere at all times subconsciously, but it does get tiring after a while. It explains why I hadn’t been able to use it much during the fight or my stay here so far.” Kuroko hums for a moment before adding on. “And now that I think about it, my fighting style could be considered an invisible threat, but I was mostly referring to poison and such.”

 

The bluenet sheathes his daggers and wipes the sweat from his forehead, eyes glimmering with something as he meets Akashi’s gaze after.

 

“We should train together and spar again, Akashi-sama.”

 

A smile graces the redhead’s at the other’s suggestion, nodding his head in agreement. He looks up, only now noticing the blinding brightness of the overhead sun, and clicks his tongue before turning to the bluenet, offering his arm.

 

“It’s nearing lunchtime. Let’s return back, and talk more over some food and drinks. And if you won’t mind, preferably in my study as everyone in my personal guard will most likely question us.”

 

Kuroko accepts and loops his arm around Akashi’s offered one, letting the taller male lead him until he muses, “I find it quite offensive that Akashi-sama says everyone in his personal guard, but forgets that I’m temporarily part of it.”

 

“Ah, that is true. I apologize for that,” he chuckles as he enters the house and takes a left turn. “However, please, don’t call me Akashi-sama anymore.”

 

“But Akashi-sama is the leader. It’s only polite to address you as such.”

 

“And as the leader, I’m telling you to address me in a less formal way.”

 

Kuroko sighs inwardly. “You can be Akashi-kun, but no more than that.”

 

“That’s good enough for now...Tetsuya.”

 

* * *

 

 

_“Seriously?! The guy is here for a week, and Tetsu is already comfortable enough to let the sadist touch him and let him call him by his given name? The fuck?”_

 

_“Is that jealousy I hear, Aominecchi?”_

 

_“Kise, fuck off! Don’t tell me you don’t find it weird that the redhead psycho was being nice and smiley when he passed by us with Tetsu.”_

 

_“Fine, you do have a point, Aominecchi…”_

 

_“Oi, you two idiots! Have you been the ones ruining the garden? There’s sections of flowers all trampled, soil dug up, and the furniture’s been all moved and dirtied. I thought I told you to start acting responsibly!”_

 

_“Eh? I’ve been with Aominecchi working on the whole Seirin and Kiridai exchange at the gates this whole morning!”_

 

_“Who else could have done it then besides you idiots?”_

 

_“Ah, Mido-chin, stop being so mad...it was Kuro-chin and Aka-chin, y’know? They were in the garden for morning before they fought and left.”_

 

_“What?! They fought?! Great, now when Akashi calls, I have to dispose of Tetsu’s body. I can’t believe my best friend is dead already...”_

 

* * *

 

 

Kuroko hums lightly as he sits on a couch in Akashi’s study with said owner sitting next to him; his body is pressed up to Akashi’s side, head resting against the broad chest and legs almost intertwining with each other’s. His eyes lazily follow character after character of the paper the redhead is reading, only speaking when he points out a mistake in the numerical reports of the villages – otherwise, he hums, enjoying the feeling of Akashi’s hand running through his hair and the taste of warm tea.

 

He thinks about the last three months he’s spent in the redhead’s home, originally here to only be a temporary part of his personal guard, yet now finding himself enjoying the home more and more; it was like a permanent base, a place to return to after difficult missions and to spend time with the people he had grown close to.

More than that, it was where Kuroko could return to Akashi over and over again.

 

He sneaks a glance towards the taller male, eyes tracing features he had grown to memorize and appreciate. His lips quirk up into the smallest of smiles only to quickly bring the teacup to his face to hide his smile when Akashi caught him looking.

 

“Is there something on my face, Tetsuya? Or are you staring because of my looks?”

 

Kuroko suppresses the urge to roll his eyes, only commenting, “How egotistical of you.”

 

“I’m simply going off of what a few of the women in our city whisper about me. Besides, I didn’t hear Tetsuya denying it,” Akashi smirks, leaning down to bump noses with the smaller male. “Tell me, Tetsuya, do you find me attractive?”

 

“Quite honestly, I do think of Akashi-kun as attractive,” he confesses, placing down his tea cup before shifting his body closer to the Akashi and looking up, blue eyes meeting red and gold. “Of course, I find him attractive in other ways besides appearance such as his intelligence, hard work in improving his skills, and even his odd sense of humor.”

 

Akashi finds himself smiling genuinely at Kuroko’s words – even at the slight jab of his sense of humor – and the pair of blue eyes that were glimmering with heartfelt fondness, his heart picking up the slightest bit. He chuckles softly, pressing his forehead against Kuroko’s, his mind racing with thoughts filled with the same affection and fondness.

 

“Is this your way of confessing your feelings to me, my dear? If so, I believe it’s too late when I’m quite aware of your feelings for me.”

 

Kuroko huffs quietly. “Then Akashi-kun should have told me and rejected me the moment he realized instead of doing nothing and leading me on.” Blue eyes tear away, and Akashi finds himself dropping the pile of papers and lifting his hands up to cup both of Kuroko’s cheeks.

 

“Who said I was leading you on, Tetsuya? It’s actually the opposite considering that I, too, am infatuated with you and your odd self. From your apathetic exterior yet emotional interior, your need to be polite and kind to everyone yet also be so witty and teasing towards me, your own hard work into improving as well, and of course, there’s a lot more to list, but that’s for another day,” he lists, voice slowly quieting into a gentle murmur at the end.

 

“Yet you still didn’t do anything earlier?”

 

“Forgive me for that. As surprising it may sound, I’m actually not the best at handling and processing emotions, love included. It took me a while to realize that I did indeed reciprocate your feelings for me after all,” Akashi admits. “That, and the fact that Daiki will become much more annoying than before.”

 

Kuroko jerks slightly as he breathed out a puff of laughter at the last comment, his eyes turning back to face the redhead, now shining again with love.

 

“You’re an idiot, Bakashi-kun.”

 

“Yes, I am, my love,” Akashi sighs, resigning himself to his nickname as he watched his now lover pick up the teacup again. Except instead of drinking from it, blue eyes peer into the cup before looking at Akashi once more.

 

“Ah, Akashi-kun, look at all the bubbles in this tea,” Kuroko smiles. “Do you know what means?”

 

Akashi raises an eyebrow at the bluenet, but gives in to his quiet laughter before pressing his forehead against Kuroko’s once.

 

“If I’m correct, according to superstition, it correlates with how many kisses you’ll receive. Considering the amount of tea we’ve had together over these last 3 months, we’ll be extremely busy, my love.”

 

“I don’t mind at all, Akashi-kun.”

 

Akashi steals a glance at the bright look in teal eyes before it flutters shut, Kuroko pressing his lips against the emperor’s. He can feel the softness and warmth of smooth lips, the taste of strong, black tea, and the electricity buzzing under his skin as they shifted closer until there was no more room left in between them.

 

Their kiss is innocent and gentle that reminds them of the feeling of light spring breezes that hit their skin in the palace gardens, of the warm and bubbling tea they would always talk over, of quiet days spent in the study simply enjoying the other’s presence, and of their deep yet sweet-tempered affections.

 

It feels like forever had passed when they finally pull apart, Kuroko now sitting on Akashi’s lap with pale arms wound around his neck and the brightest smile Akashi had ever been gifted with. It’s gone a moment later when it turns to the laughter he had heard months before during their first meeting, and Akashi finds himself falling further into fondness without any fight.

 

“I love you a lot, Akashi-kun.”

 

If this was what defeat felt like, Akashi Seijuurou would have chosen to lose a long while ago.

 

* * *

 

 

_“You’re kidding me, right, Kise?”_

 

_“No! Why would I joke about our Akashicchi dating your Kurokocchi?!”_

 

_“You joke about a lot of things, Kise. That, and you’re pretty dumb and gullible sometimes.”_

 

_“Fine, let’s go ask Akashicchi and Kurokocchi if they’re dating then since you won’t believe me, Ahominecchi!”_

 

* * *

 

 

“Oi, Tetsu, you here with Akashi?”

 

Kuroko levels his best friend with a blank look for barging in unannounced into the study. Glancing at Akashi, he can see the displeasure starting to form along with a frown. He blinks as he waits for the reason as to why Aomine thought it’d be a good idea to just storm in impatiently instead of waiting like a normal, refined person.

 

(Of course, Kuroko knows that Aomine is the farthest thing from normal and refined, but he digresses.)

 

Another familiar head pops up right beside his, golden eyes sparkling in happiness and curiosity the moment his eyes landed on the bluenet. Kise opens his mouth to yell out something and lunges forward, only to be stopped by two fists grabbing the collar of his shirt, and instead ends up whining by the doorway.

 

“Oh, look, Midorima’s here too. You interested in hearing?”

 

Said green-haired male glares at the tanned one before replying, “Interested in hearing what? You two being fools and rudely coming into Akashi’s private study without notice or invitation?”

 

“Man, I sure do feel bad when you put it that way,” Aomine sneers. “No, carrot-top, we’re here because we’re asking Tetsu and Akashi if they’re dating or fucking or whatever.”

 

“Aominecchi, that’s crude,” Kise screeches, whacking him before huffing and turning back to face two in question. His face morphs back into cheeriness, personality back to being like a dog. “So? Is it true that you guys are finally together?”

 

Kuroko only sighs in exasperation at the rest of the group while Akashi chuckles in amusement. He intertwines his hand with the bluenet’s before lifting it up to show to the rest of them before moving forward to place a soft peck on Kuroko’s lips.

 

(Still soft and reminiscent of tea, he notes.)

 

Kise is screeching again, but out of happiness, and smiles smugly at a shocked Aomine, his mouth open in disbelief. Midorima only turns away, jaw clenching and unclenching as he tried to process the new information.

 

“Hmm..? Why is everyone here?”

 

“Oh, Murasakibaracchi! You’re here,” Kise grins. “We just got the official news of Kurokocchi and Akashicchi finally being togeher!”

 

Aomine rolls his eyes before asking, “Oi, Tetsu, that means you’re staying here permanently now, though, right?”

 

Kuroko gazes at Akashi’s face, smiling lightly before nodding and feeling the smallest warmth travel to his cheeks.

 

“Ah...Mido-chin was wrong before. Kuro-chin ended up staying with Aka-chin in the end.”

 

“Murasakibara,” Midorima glares, looking affronted.

 

“Oh? Shintarou, what is Atsushi referring to,” Akashi smiles, grim and sharp.

 

“Yeah, a few months ago, Midorimacchi thought you would end up finding that Kurokocchi was weak and take back your invitation for him to join your personal guard,” Kise happily supplies.

 

“Kise!”

 

“You thought Tetsu was some weak guy even though he ended up tying me and managing to actually harm me in an actual span? He even managed to land at least a cut on Akashi when you couldn’t!”

 

“Daiki speaks the truth, Shintarou.”

 

“You can’t blame me for thinking that way, and even Kise and Murasakibara agreed with me,” Midorima argues, trying to lessen the damage.

 

“Daiki may not be able to blame you, but I can. I’m offended that you thought so lowly of my lover, and for that, you’ll be properly punished. You’ll be on cleaning duty for my entire home for 2 months, become a personal helper for Daiki during those 2 months, and as well as returning to old training regime for you, only tripled this time.”

 

“U-Understood,” Midorima says, balking.

 

“I think I should be the one offended since I was the one being insulted,” Kuroko interrupts, eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Am I allowed to poison him, Akashi-kun?”

 

“Tetsu, you’re already just like Akashi! What the fu–”

 

“Excuse me, what is that supposed to mean, Daiki?”

 

“Nothing!”

 

“Good.”

 

Kuroko just sighs again, but looks at the scene fondly before squeezing the hand intertwined with his, and rested his forehead at the nape of Akashi’s neck, feeling happiness flutter in his heart.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

**OMAKE:**

 

“Akashi-kun, do you remember our fight and how we conversed for a bit after that?”

 

“Yes, Tetsuya, what about it?”

 

“Poison isn’t my only specialty,” the bluenet hums, “I also do quite well with seduction.”

 

“Is this another threat?”

 

“I retract my statement.”

 

“What?”

 

I’ll be sleeping in Aomine-kun’s room tonight. Good night, Akashi-kun.”  


“Tetsuya!”

**Author's Note:**

> 1) when a tea leaf's stem is standing up, it signals good fortune for the drinker.  
> 2) if a tea is strong, it means one will gain a new friend while weak tea means you'll lose one.  
> 3) the amount of bubbles on the side indicate how many kisses you'll receive!


End file.
